2 Corinthians 8:7-15
King James Version
7 Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.
8 I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.
9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
10 And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.
11 Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.
12 For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.
13 For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:
14 But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:
15 As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.
Saint Mark 3:6-12
King James Version
6 And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
7 But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,
8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.
9 And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.
10 For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.
11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
12 And he straightly charged them that they should not make him known.
A Portion From
PATRISTIC THEOLOGY
by Protopresbyter Ioannou S. Romanidou (+)
A person who follows or rather thinks that he follows the teaching of Christ and simply goes to Church every Sunday, who receives communion at regular intervals, who uses the priests to perform consecrations, anointings, etc., without delving into these, remaining in the letter of the law and not in the spirit of the law, does he particularly benefit from Orthodoxy?
Then another, who prays exclusively for the future life for himself and for others and is completely indifferent to this life, does he again particularly benefit from Orthodoxy?
The one tendency is represented by the parish priest and those who gather around him in the above spirit, and the other is represented by an Elder in a monastery, usually an archimandrite, who is retired and waiting to die, with a few monks around him.
Insofar as these two tendencies are not centered around purification and illumination, from a patristic point of view, they are wrong in terms of what they seek. But insofar as they are centered around purification and illumination and apply the Orthodox Patristic ascetic training for the acquisition of noetic prayer, then only are things placed on a correct basis. These two tendencies are exaggerations towards both extremes. These tendencies do not have a common axis. The common axis that sustains Orthodoxy and maintains its coherence, its one and only axis on all the issues that concern it and which places things on a correct basis, when taken into account, is the axis: Purification – Illumination – Theosis.
No comments:
Post a Comment